1. Field of the Invention
My invention relates to body protective garments, and more particularly to body protective garments for use by refuse packers, warehousemen, stevedores, and other workers who are engaged in occupations in which heavy loads are borne by those workers in contact with their bodies, and such heavy loads are rigid, contained in rigid receptacles, and/or provided with rigid projections, such as shoulder hooks, handles, and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Body protective garments have long been known in the prior art. For example, body protective garments are shown and described in the following United States patents.
U.S. Pat. No. 308,244 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 1,088,891 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 1,657,866 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,063,469 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,135,961 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,302,847 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 1,414,136 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 1,695,709 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 1,802,290 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,385,315 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,986,783
The term "prior art" as used herein or in any statement made by or on behalf of applicant means only that any document or thing referred to as prior art bears, directly or inferentially, a date which is earlier than the effective filing date hereof.
It is to be noted that a substantial percentage of these prior art body protective garments are not designed for or related to the problems encountered by workers engaged in the occupations referred to above, but rather are designed for or related to the problems encountered by athletes, sportsmen, and the like.
Further, it is to be noted that other ones of these prior art body protective devices, while they are related to occupations of the type discussed above under Field of the Invention, are related to the problems encountered by workers in an earlier day when the pace of the work was slower as contrasted with the pace of such work today, which is largely determined by the capabilities of auxiliary mechanical apparatus such as motor trucks, automatic loading equipment, and the like.
It is believed that the documents listed immediately below contain information which might be contended by someone to be material to the examination of this patent application.
No representation or admission is made that any of the immediately above-listed documents is part of the prior art, or that a search has been made, or that no more pertinent information exists.